You need to raise your pet using a system [Era]

Chapter 130 Taking Photos and Sending Letters in Northwest China

The only 'luxury' tradition the Lu family can currently offer is buying New Year's goods in the county every year.

After it was decided that we would go to the county, the children in the family cheered with joy.

"Let's set off early! Let's set off early this time!"

"Great! We can go to the county again!"

"yeah!!!"

Every time the family goes to the county, these kids are like they've taken stimulants, or you could say they're on steroids, they're all incredibly energetic and spirited.

Lu Yuanqing, who was prone to motion sickness, looked at them with envy.

They weren't afraid of the distance, didn't get carsick, and even talked non-stop the whole way, without any water to drink. Lu Yuanqing felt that even if they were dumped in the desert, he wouldn't have to worry. Well, maybe the camel had the wrong tire, at least that's how it was along the way.

Before Lu Yuanqing fainted and felt utterly hopeless, they finally arrived in the county town.

With the New Year approaching, the county was exceptionally lively. The kids hadn't been to the county in a long time, and their eyes darted around non-stop, looking here and there, just like country bumpkins visiting the city, which perfectly suited their image.

But if you look closely, you'll find that there is no fear in their eyes, nor any timidity.

"Yuanbo, hold Xiaozhong's hand, Xiaohuan, hold Xiaobei's hand, Xiaobao, come here to me, Xiaodong and Xiaoxi, stay close and don't get separated. Human traffickers are especially rampant in lively environments. If you get kidnapped, your third uncle will search countless remote mountain villages and still not find you!"

It's always good to give more advice, after all, there's no shortage of heartless human traffickers in any era!

"Got it, bro!"

Lu Yuanbo and his friends were also told stories of human traffickers by their elders since they were young, about who had been abducted to remote mountain villages and how miserable their lives were.

Therefore, when Lu Yuanqing spoke, a look of vigilance flashed across everyone's faces.

Lu Yuanhuan gripped Lu Mingbei's small hand even tighter.

Lu Yuanqing: "Same as always, I'll buy the New Year's goods. You all have money in hand this year, so buy whatever you want!"

Earning money by doing housework is now a family affair (except for Lu Yuanqing, who gets the money, while Lu Yuanbo gives the opportunity to the younger ones). Lu Mingbei and Lu Mingzhong, who are already over three years old, are already learning to do chores like lighting fires and sweeping the floor!

Therefore, each of them carried a huge sum of money that they had saved up over the past year.

Especially those who studied and ranked well in the exams, naturally received the rewards that Lu Yuanqing had initially promised.

This excludes Lu Mingnan!

"I want to buy a pair of sandals!" Lu Mingnan was the first to raise his hand and state his opinion.

He did have one pair of slightly worn cloth shoes, but he wouldn't wear them unless he was going to school or coming to the county.

When we play in the village, we always go barefoot to avoid getting holes in our shoes.

Lu Yuanqing: "..."

Buying sandals in the dead of winter? Is it even possible to find them?

"I want to buy..."

With the leader taking the lead, everyone started to say what they wanted to buy.

With a purpose in mind, you can browse quickly and no longer wander aimlessly.

I have to say, you can actually buy them.

These days, there are very few styles of sandals. Basically, there are only one or two colors that can help you distinguish between men's and women's shoes. As for the style, there is one type for men and one type for women!

The sandals are practical, and the kids are very sensible, managing their own daily necessities.

When they said it was Lu Mingnan who wanted to buy them, it turned out that each person bought one pair.

Lu Yuanqing didn't buy any. In his opinion, the sandals nowadays are all made of PVC-coated rubber, which is durable but not very comfortable. If they break or get damaged, you can just heat them up with hot tongs to melt them and glue them back on so you can continue wearing them!

But compared to that, he prefers to wear cloth shoes!

In the village now, if a child wears a pair of sandals, it will make other children envious.

So, seeing them enthusiastically choosing sandals that suited them, Lu Yuanqing didn't interrupt their good mood.

After buying the sandals, I started browsing the department store.

This is when Lu Yuanqing takes the stage. He buys whatever he likes, whether it's delicious food or useful items.

Lu Yuanbo and Lu Yuanhuan each led their own little ones who needed care, while Lu Mingdong and Lu Mingxi followed behind Lu Yuanqing, ready to take over the bags he bought at any time!

Lu Yuanqing is someone who likes to spend money, especially during times of scarcity, when his desire to shop increased even more!

Carrying two bags, Lu Yuanqing excitedly led the way, carrying soap, towels, umbrellas...

Also, we need to replace the blankets at home, so we need to buy more cotton!

Every time, Lu Mingxi was shocked by his domineering shopping spree and followed behind him carrying the things without daring to breathe.

"It's almost noon, let's find a place to eat!" With his stomach growling, Lu Yuanqing immediately announced a pause.

"Just grab something to eat, and buy some steamed buns!" Lu Yuanhuan had already bought his own.

The first thing she saw when she arrived was Lu Mingdong and Lu Mingxi's hands, which were clasped together.

"Hehehe!!" Lu Yuanqing burst out laughing!

Besides food, I bought all the necessities for the household. I hadn't paid attention to them before, but now when I see them on the counter, I realize I need them!

"How about a bowl of pork liver noodles for each person? It's delicious and inexpensive!" Lu Yuanqing tentatively suggested.

Sure enough, Lu Yuanhuan's tense expression immediately eased.

After finishing his pork liver noodles, Lu Yuanqing intended to go back to the department store to continue shopping, but he inadvertently saw the storefront of the photo studio!

Photo studio?

Lu Yuanqing was immediately unable to move!

Old Yang's Photo Studio is not a large studio; it has two or three rooms inside.

"Let's take a picture!" Lu Yuanqing said!

We did what we said we'd do, and we took photos right away.

The kids in the family haven't had their pictures taken yet, so no one objected to the suggestion.

They all followed Lu Yuanqing into the photo studio.

Once inside, it was clearer: three rooms. One room was used for taking photos of the background, while the other two were closed, and it was unclear whether they were used for developing photos.

Lu Yuanqing led his family inside and immediately said he wanted to take a family photo and individual photos.

The boss was overjoyed when he heard this. He glanced at the man and realized it was a big deal!

The boss immediately poured them water with a cheerful smile.

At this point, there are no backgrounds or clothes to choose from.

They were still wearing their own clothes, the kind with patches on their cotton-padded jackets and trousers.

As for the background, there was no set design or lighting effects. We just put a stool down, sat there, and took the picture!

It has to be said that their family has pretty good genes.

Lu Yuanqing looked at himself in the mirror on the wall, especially at himself, where he was the most handsome, even on par with Shuai Cangqiong.

With delicate features, regular facial structure, and a decent height, how could someone with such looks be considered bad?

Having done his self-evaluation, Lu Yuanqing sat down in the middle of the stool with a smile on his face.

The three younger ones sat beside him, while the others stood behind them.

The family kept smiling as the photographer instructed them.

This moment was captured by the camera.

In addition to the family photo, each person also had an individual photo taken.

After the photoshoot, the photographer said it was very good, quite nice.

Lu Yuanqing: "..."

Black and white photo, no aperture, no filter, haha! Hope it looks good when it's printed!

Two copies of the family photo were printed, one copy of the individual photos were printed, and only two copies of Cheng Xiaobao's photo were printed.

About ten days later, Lu Yuanqing took Cheng Xiaobao to the county town again, picked up the photos and bought a lot of things, and the two went straight to the post office.

"Send a letter or a parcel!"

Lu Yuanqing replied with a smile, "I'll send them all!"

Upon hearing this, the post office employee skillfully handed him a form to fill out first.

Lu Yuanqing thanked him and took the form. He then bent down to fill out the form, asking, "The letter I asked you to write to your dad! Is it finished? Give it to me when it's done, I'll mail it later!"

Cheng Xiaobao took out a piece of paper from his pocket. There were many words written on it in a crooked and messy manner. The handwriting was not good, and because he did not know how to write many words, he used all kinds of strange symbols instead!

"Here! Here you go!"

Lu Yuanqing glanced at him, but didn't laugh at him. He patted his head, took the letter, folded it, put it in an envelope with his own letter, and affixed the stamps he had specially bought.

"Are you going to buy another sheet of stamps this time?"

Lu Yuanqing smiled as he accepted the extra stamps he had bought, "They're nice, so I thought I'd collect them!"

What kind of collection is this? I just really hope to make a lot of money in the future.

Lu Yuanqing had never been in contact with stamps before. Being a post-00s generation, he relied mainly on communication for transportation and had never written letters. Apart from reading about stamps in books, he had never seen stamps in real life.

He knew that some stamps would be very valuable in the future, but he only knew that the monkey stamp was valuable. However, despite having bought stamps for so long, he had never seen a single zodiac stamp.

It's easy to imagine that the very valuable monkey stamps haven't been released yet. Once they are, he'll definitely buy several copies to collect, so he won't have to worry about his retirement!

Getting back to the main point, these issues of elderly care are still too far off.

The most important thing now is that after Lu Yuanqing mailed the letter and the package at the same time, he left the post office with Cheng Xiaobao.

"Xiao Bao, you still need to keep working hard! Try to write a letter soon that your dad can understand!" Lu Yuanqing said jokingly.

Good heavens, a quick glance at the letter reveals not a single coherent sentence.

"I will study hard to learn to read," Cheng Xiaobao said shyly. "I'll learn to read quickly so Dad knows what I wrote!"

"Good, that's ambitious!" Lu Yuanqing immediately praised him.

I'm so relieved!

Ever since Lu Mingnan appeared in the family, Lu Yuanqing has become extremely vigilant.

If he was still hopeful about Lu Mingnan at first, he finally gave up after tutoring him with his homework several times, almost dying each time.

Then, Lu Yuanqing turned his attention to the other children.

Early education is essential.

To prevent another Lu Mingnan from appearing in the family, Lu Yuanqing and Lu Yuanbo took turns teaching them to recognize characters and count whenever they had free time.

And I must say, the results have been quite good after a few months.

Moreover, with Lu Mingnan, who knew absolutely nothing, he could absorb whatever the other three taught him very well, and his learning results were excellent.

Lu Yuanqing was extremely satisfied with this.

Cheng Xiaobao, in particular, was eager to learn to read because of the incentive of writing letters to Cheng Jun. He was constantly pestering Lu Yuanqing or Lu Yuanbo.

Seeing his expression, Lu Yuanqing smiled.

Look at their attitude towards learning.

At this point, we need to use Lu Mingnan as a negative example again!

……

The Great Northwest!

"Chengjun, Chengjun!! Hurry to the guardhouse and tell them there's a package for you!"

Cheng Jun had just returned from work. The day's hard work, without any rest, left him feeling completely drained. He walked slowly back to his residence, his spirits low.

Upon hearing his neighbor Yan Anqing's voice, he felt as if he were a man who had been drinking himself to death in the desert and had suddenly discovered an oasis. He plunged into the river, and every pore of his body was released at that moment!

Now that things have come to this, if there's anything left to remember him by, Cheng Jun would say it's Cheng Xiaobao, Lu Yuanqing, and many other relatives he hasn't even met yet!

Lu Yuanqing said that they also have a younger aunt and a cousin, and they all know about his situation and are very concerned about him, hoping that he can be well!

If there's anything to look forward to, it's Lu Yuanqing's letter.

Very few people who arrived in their area received packages and letters, and many were forced to sever ties.

But there was one exception among them.

After Chengjun arrived here, he received letters and packages from his family that same month.

They were saying at the time that it would only happen once or twice!

But to his utter surprise, every three months thereafter, Chengjun would receive letters from his family, along with a number of food and other useful packages!

Jealousy, deep jealousy!

Ke Chengjun is good at interpersonal relationships; every time he receives something from his family, he will give some to them.

Then, it decisively turned into envy, deep envy!

Hey, that's right, it's that realistic!

Cheng Jun skillfully retrieved the letter and half-package sent by Lu Yuanqing from the guardhouse.

The guards at the gate also skillfully pretended not to see it!

Cheng Jun twitched the corner of his mouth, wondering what would be missing from the things Lu Yuanqing sent this time!

Every time he sent a letter back, he told Lu Yuanqing not to send him anything anymore, and he even explained the situation to Lu Yuanqing in detail many times!

But Lu Yuanqing still sent it to him on his own.

Having never had any siblings since childhood, I always suffered losses when I got into fights. I never imagined that I would actually experience the benefits of having brothers.

Back at their lodgings, Yan Anqing chuckled as she looked at the package in his hand. "Tsk tsk tsk, this package of yours is going to slap someone in the face again!"

Cheng Jun chuckled, taking things out of the package as he asked, "How many times has this happened? Still making bets?"

Speechless!

"Hehe, it's just too boring all day, so I'm trying to find some fun!" Yan Anqing rubbed his nose; he had gambled before too.

However, after gambling twice, he stopped participating.

He's someone who's come to terms with reality. Those who've persisted are probably a little resentful!

Who can easily accept that they have been abandoned by their loved ones?

Cheng Jun also understood something. He might not have understood it when he first arrived, but after so long, what was there that he didn't understand?

"Here, take this. We'll all have an extra meal tonight!"

"Wow, thank you!!" Yan Anqing happily took the meat he handed her, hugged it, and ran outside to tell everyone the good news!

Cheng Jun smiled, looked away, and focused all his attention on a letter in his hand.

This envelope feels rather thick!

Cheng Jun opened it with a smile, wanting to see how his son was doing!

Then he saw two folded pieces of paper.

Cheng Jun hesitated for a moment, then opened a sheet. The first thing he saw was crooked and messy writing. His eyes widened in disbelief!